Joel Slater

hanging backstage with Matt Redman

        

was great to play and hang out @ lifest 2010

hanging backstage with Matt Redman

Juan DeVevo (casting crowns guitarist)

crowd from backstage

        

Jul 08, 2010 @ 5 PM. Oshkosh, WI

Joel will be playing with Sevenglory as musical guest. Go to www.lifest.com for more info.

        

Think about your breathing for a second. It’s not something you usually think about except for the few times in primary school when you had a breath holding contest with your equally stupid friend or when you’re snorkeling off the coast of Australia. Other than that it takes care of itself, so much so we keep breathing even when we’re asleep, it’s on autopilot.

We breath from the moment we are born until we draw our last breath and we die. If someone collapses in front of you the first thing you’d check is their pulse which is directly tied in with their ability to breathe. That being said I state my case that breathing is important, we breathe continually and without ceasing.

The bible tells us to do things continually and praying is one of them, (1 Thessalonians 5:17) when I think of praying and how it should be a part of every moment of our day, I think of how we breathe, it comes naturally to us in the same way that prayer should flow from our hearts.

This past Sunday as I was leading worship thoughts of someone who I had just talked to (and shared a frustrating situation that they were in the middle of) jumped into my head. I thought they may be having a hard time entering into worship because of the crappy week they were having. In a moment I prayed for them and asked God to help them to engage with Him during the morning worship. I didn’t fall on my knees, I didn’t stop the singing so I could pray and if I wasn’t telling you now, you’d never know that I prayed as I was playing and singing.

It was simple, straight to the point, it didn’t consist of babble as we’re told not to do in Matthew 6:7 and didn’t take my attention away from what I was doing on stage at the same time, it was as simple as breathing.

Have you prayed today? Have you drawn breath?

        

on may 24th i broke ground on my new full length recording project entitled ‘red couch serenade’.

for those interested and have maybe expressed interest in the past to contribute to this project, i’ve set up an avenue to do so. you can either sponsor a full day, half day or one or more hours in the studio. every gift goes to help cover the thousands of dollars this project requires.

if you’re interested in supporting this project you can do so via credit card below or if you prefer mailing a check please email me at redcouchserenade@joelslater.com and i’ll reply a mailing address to you.

each level of giving receives a gift from me.

thank you for your support
js

        

playing piano with finn rocket from joel slater on Vimeo.

        

introducing finn rocket slater. born march 24th @ 6:12pm. 7p.15oz and 21″ long. mum and baby are doing great.

        

here’s a pic of my new awesomeness of a piano. can’t wait to start writing on this thing.

        

As we draw close to the end of the year we hear people talking about their New Year’s resolution. I did some research on what the top resolutions were and this is what I came up with…

• Lose weight
• Get out of debt
• Become more organized
• Maintain a diary
• Save money
• Improve grades
• Get a better job
• Get fit
• Eat right
• Get a better education
• Drink less alcohol
• Quit smoking
• Reduce stress
• Take a trip
• Volunteer to help others
• Be less grumpy
• Be more independent
• Learn something new (such as a foreign language or music)

I’ve never really been one for setting new goals on the 1st of the year but I do think that taking a good look at your life at any time and deciding to make positive changes is good thing. So why do people make resolutions? Resolutions are made with the hope that the future doesn’t reflect something that the past does. This sounds deep but could be as simple as, eating less happy meals or calling my mother more often, some could be bigger resolutions like quitting a habit that isn’t good for your health either physical or spiritual.

What in 2009 would have you done differently? What does that mean for you looking into 2010?

I leave you with a verse and this encouragement as you set your goals for 2010…to seek God even more in the new year resulting in a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Him.

Happy New Year.

        

although it’s been said many times many ways…Merry Christmas to you. j&h (plus one)